naya daur

it was 1957, 10 years after independence that naya daur struggled with the benefits of industrialization nehru style while quoting gandhi in the title sequences. once the profit motive brings a machine from the city into a village displacing the workers from the traditional work that they were involved in, a debate begins about the role of technology in progress. a race between the machine and man is won by man with a show of the strength in numbers and cooperative work. and to think it was the same year the chandigarh was taking its form with its broad avenues and grids for a future of high speed vehicles while the people still rode bicycles. there is something about the idealism of the times in the film. dilip kumar with a sickle across his shoulders against the sky, the optimistic glint in his eyes and his hair fluttering in the wind must be the symbol for the indian man. shankar is his name in the film- and was that a white knitted fez cap he wore in so many scenes? as a star should- he represents for me the time in which the film was made. vyjayantimala and him have the best on screen chemistry in hindi cinema. the songs are great. fantastic film.